Appeal

I don't often write personal things here, in fact I don't think I ever do.
But just in case you're taking a few minutes to read this, please click on the link above or on the 'Just Giving' panel below to read about Ray Hart who is raising money for a great cause.
Evie Hart was a friend of ours - the Hart family's youngest who was taken away suddenly and cruelly by cancer.
We all know someone who has had cancer and one in five of us will develop some form. Survival rates are increasing and the UK Government and Barack Obama's administration are putting a lot of money into research. But that's the future.
Right now little girls and boys are living their life in a hospice as their families try and come to terms with an illness that has no cure. Hospice in the Weald does a fantastic job supporting them in Kent and here in Greenwich.
Just give a few pounds or dollars to help them keep doing it.
Thank you.

What a night!

The best man won, originally uploaded by robbroccoli.

Good morning from the UK and...phew, thank goodness for that.

For a moment yesterday I wondered if it might all dissolve in the kind of disaster of the last couple of elections.

Now I'm fearful for the next few months, the weight of expectation, the capacity of Americans to do weird things. This may be just British pessimism.

Great speeches from both candidates (far more impressive than you'd get in the UK).

But most of all...wow. An educated, intelligent, globally aware US President. Well done.

Religion, Lies and Videotape

Thanks to my brother for sending this. Have a look; it's interesting from two perspectives.




One is that the Republicans (and media) are clearly using the same formulae to try and unsettle potential Democrat voters (remember a small proportion of the electorate decide the outcome by shifting from one party to another).
It's also interesting that this video is edited in such a way that it's difficult to note anything other than that fact - the same phrases crop up - sometimes the context is obscure...who is saying what about whom.
One thing is clear, some (ignorant) people see it as their job, or their right, to spread disinformation for their own ends. Take the assertion that 'Hussein' or attending a Muslim school makes Barack Obama a Muslim... that's basically distorting the truth.
Or lying.